Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-09
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Joe Flaherty (FF), Nominated by the Taoiseach

I extend a warm welcome to our visitors. The Minister is welcome back to the Chamber. He is almost as frequent a visitor as the Minister for justice. It is indicative of the level of work that he is getting through and the many challenges he faces. This particular piece of legislation is long overdue and it brings much-needed clarity to an often times contentious area. It clearly sets out people’s entitlements to social housing support and introduces clear legal requirements that applicants must be lawfully resident and habitually resident in the State
Residency requirements already exist in practice but it has been a grey area for many local authorities. We now finally see them being placed on a firm statutory basis. However, underpinning the policy on statutory footing brings clarity to the eligibility for social housing supports for all applicants and will ensure consistency with immigration policy. The new habitual residency requirement will ensure that all social housing applicants have a close link to the State and have made Ireland their home. These legislative reforms build on existing policy and procedures which define social housing as a long-term housing support and therefore successful applicants must demonstrate a long-term right to reside in the State and similarly have a long-term intention to remain. Putting these requirements on a statutory footing ensures there is a robust statutory and regulatory framework in an area of increasing demand and likewise public and political scrutiny. Ultimately, the intention is to protect the State’s efforts and resources in the area of social housing and to focus on the provision of supports for those who meet these eligibility requirements, thus eliminating ambiguity.
The general scheme of the Bill was approved by the Government in January 2024. This was followed by pre-legislative scrutiny in April 2024 with the publication of the Oireachtas committee report in May 2024. Following on from that report and a detailed submission from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, further advices were sought from the Attorney General. Following these advices, the Government approved further amendments to the general scheme in July 2025.
It is important to point out that significant consultation and engagement has taken place between the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration in relation to the complex interaction of the immigration system and local authority decision-making. This interaction is long overdue and it is good to see to it. It gives clarity to the workers in our local authorities, who are the people on the front line and have been dealing with this contentious issue for several years.
In parallel, a number of meaningful policy and legislative changes have been initiated in this area since the general scheme was drafted. These include the enactment of the International Protection Act and related implementation of the EU asylum and immigration pact; changes to family reunification arrangements both for beneficiaries of international protection and economic migrants; planned legislative changes to the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956; and plans for the ending of temporary protection.
The Department of housing, in consultation with the Department of justice, has worked to ensure the Bill aligns with existing social housing policy. The drafting and the provisions relating to the eligibility of non-EEA citizens in particular are robust but flexible in order to allow the Minister to respond to the practical realities of the immigration challenge and permissions system, where the Minister for justice has powers to grant permissions, stamps, and set conditions which can and do change over time. What is also positive about this latest legislation from the Department of housing is that it provides a clear outline of social housing assessment and how people can appeal decisions they are unhappy with. The Bill puts in place a new statutory appeals mechanism for local authority decisions relating to social housing eligibility and assessment.
In October 2025, the Government approved amendments to the general scheme to provide for an appeals process for decisions relating to assessment for social housing. The detailed provisions are incorporated into section 20B of the Bill. An appeal shall be in writing and should be made with 14 days of notification to the household of the original decision. Thereupon, there is an onus on the chief executive of the local authority to appoint an appeals officer who was not involved in the making of the original decision concerned and who is in a more senior role. The appeals officer should be independent in the performance of his or her functions. They must decide the appeal within 28 days of receipt of the appeal.
They can confirm the original determination, vary the original determination or set aside the determination and, where the appeals officer considers it appropriate, make an alternative determination.
There are a number of technical amendments to the Residential Tenancies Acts, which are provided to enhance their implementation and the outcomes thereunder, with greater efficiencies for stakeholders, including the RTB and the courts. Some of the key provisions included are to: streamline the enforcement of RTB determination orders through the courts; allow members of An Garda Síochána and officers of a housing authority, if required, to provide evidence in certain RTB dispute resolution cases, for example, where antisocial behaviour arises or there is danger posed to a dwelling; empower the RTB to issue 28-day fixed payment notices for certain offences to provide the opportunity for the offender to avoid prosecution and to speed up compliance with the Residential Tenancies Acts; and provide for RTB hearings in the context of adjudication, tribunal and sanctioning cases to be held in public.
Some obvious questions arise. For example, what does "lawfully resident" mean for the purposes of social housing support? These legislative reforms build on existing policy and procedures that define social housing as a long-term housing support and, therefore, successful applicants must demonstrate a long-term right to reside in the State and, similarly, have a long-term intention to remain in Ireland as their home.
What we have here are clear and obvious fixes that we needed over time. I appreciate that it is a very complex area involving a large amount of work and co-operation with the Department of justice. Housing departments the length and breadth of the country will welcome this legislation, as it brings much-needed clarity to what has been a grey area for far too long.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:11+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-09